Competitive eating

[2] He was a local celebrity in Kent and performed at fairs, festivals, and accepting eating challenges from wealthy patrons.

[4] Following this, eating contests – particularly those involving pie – became popular across Canada and the United States, traditionally at county fairs.

There are some notable examples of early eating contestants, such as Joe McCarthy, who consumed 31 pies in a competition held at Charles Tanby's Saloon in 1897.

[4] Frank Dotzler is also noteworthy after consuming "275 oysters, 8 & 1/8th pounds of steak, 12 rolls, and 3 large pies, all washed down with 11 cups of coffee" at an event organised by the Manhattan Fat Men's Club in 1909.

[6] In 2010, however, promoter Mortimer Matz admitted to having fabricated the legend of the 1916 start date with a man named Max Rosey in the early 1970s as part of a publicity stunt.

[13] As of 2023, the most successful male competitor is Joey Chestnut, who has won Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest a total of sixteen times since 2007.

Judges will also be called upon to count or weigh each competitor's food and certify the results of the contest prior to the winner being announced.

[24] If chipmunking is allowed in a contest, eaters are given a reasonable amount of time (typically less than two minutes) to swallow the food or risk a deduction from their final totals.

Many professional competitive eaters undergo rigorous personal training in order to increase their stomach capacity and eating speed with various foods.

One competitive eater told the New York Times that he credits his 100-pound weight loss to his training regimen, which includes gym workouts and being "health-conscious the other six days out of the week".

[27] Retired competitive eater Ed "Cookie" Jarvis trained by consuming entire heads of boiled cabbage followed by drinking up to two gallons of water every day for two weeks before a contest.

[29] All Pro Eating Competitive Eaters include Molly Schuyler, Eric "Silo" Dahl, Jamie "The Bear" McDonald and Stephanie "Xanadu" Torres (deceased).

[citation needed] Various challenges of this type are featured in the Travel Channel reality show Man v. Food, which premiered in 2008.

Club claimed that Bobby completing the steak eating contest to spite his vegetarian ex-girlfriend "remains one of the best scenes in the show's history.

"[33] One criticism of competitive eating is the message that the gluttonous sport sends as obesity levels rise among Americans,[35] and the example it sets for youth.

[36] In China, eating contests have been criticized for their promotion of food waste and "celebration of gluttony" in a time of rising of childhood obesity;[37] China passed a law in 2021 which banned competitive eating competitions and "mukbang" binge-eating videos in an effort to combat food waste, with offenders facing fines of up to 100,000 Yuan.